Written by

Kevin Allen
| USA TODAY Sports

The men's Olympic hockey tournament won't start until Wednesday and already the Swedes have suffered a loss that hurts their medal chances.

Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin's decision to pull out of the Olympics because of a nagging rib injury is a major setback for a team that possesses gold-medal potential. The Swedes had previously lost Johan Franzen (concussion).

With a potential center ice trio of Sedin, Niklas Backstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, the Swedes looked like they had the ability to match up favorably down the middle against most teams. Taking Sedin out the mix leaves the ...